Landlords urge city to address issues with rental inspection program

Local landlords suggest Newton’s rental housing inspection program is flawed, claiming the checklist used for the inspection process is not being followed and that trying to schedule a meeting with the contractor has been a challenge. A number of rental property owners spoke out against the program last month.

Fred Rhodes, an owner of rental properties, distributed copies of the city’s rental inspection checklist to council members and asked them to point out where it says broken tree limbs are prohibited and where bedrooms are to have a seven-foot height requirement. The inspection checklist does not list these items.

However, Rhodes claimed at the Jan. 17 council meeting he was rejected by the contracted rental property inspector because of a broken tree limb. He has also seen rejections for having too many garbage bags of pop cans that didn’t make it to recycling or because there were too many cardboard boxes in the garage.

Even though the checklist expressly prohibits accumulated garbage, junk, rubbish or debris, Rhodes argued it was not a cluttered mess nor a fire hazard.

“This rental inspection list is what this board agreed to…The problem is, your instructions aren’t being followed. I know you have a hard job and I know that you are allowing us to let you know. That’s what we’re here tonight to do,” he said. “Find the tree limb in that list. Find the bedroom ceiling height on the list.”

The seven-foot minimum height for bedrooms is a challenge for a town with old housing stock, Rhodes said. A number of houses were built more than 100 years ago and were built according to codes at that time. They made wonderful places to raise families and a safe space, he added.

“Here we are in the 21st century and we have new construction codes for the new homes that we are doing … I personally wish everyone could live in one of them. That reality is not possible,” Rhodes said. “But what we are trying to do now is take these three-bedroom houses out of the market for a rental.”

Rhodes prefaced he personally likes the two inspectors from Iowa Inspections, LLC – which is contracted by the city to serve as the inspection service provider for the city’s rental housing inspection program – but he argued landlords should be allowed to use their own qualified inspectors and contractors.

“I’m just asking that we stick to the list,” Rhodes said.

Rhodes apologized to council for going over the three-minute maximum to give his public comment, but Newton Mayor Mike Hansen assured him it was alright and acknowledged his will be reviewed by staff.

“You and I had a conversation today. I did have a conversation with the city administrator and I wanted you to come tonight and present, which I knew you would. And I’m allowing you more time to do that,” Hansen said. “And we will look into all of these situations for you and we will get back to you.”

Jeff Davis, who owns seven single-family properties in Newton, echoed Rhodes’ comments but specifically targeted the scheduling of inspections as an issue. He said the city sends a notice to rental property owners saying they have 30 days to schedule an inspection, but availability can be limited for property managers.

The inspectors, Davis added, can be very strict about when they are able to come to Newton.

“If you call on Monday, and say it’s the first of the month, they typically will be about two weeks out, maybe three weeks, on their first inspection option. And the last three inspections that I’ve scheduled they’ve asked for 5:30 p.m. on the weekend or later for that inspection,” he said. “It doesn’t work for me.

“So I tell them that, and then the second option they give me is another two weeks after that. Again, it’s after 6 p.m. after I just told them I couldn’t do that. Then the third option is a Saturday and I say, ‘No, no, no. We need to have this during the week.’”

Davis said the city’s contracted rental property inspector promised to be accommodating to the landlord’s schedules and would be more than happy to adjust schedules to make it easy on them. But Davis suggested that has not been the case at all.

“It’s been very frustrating because we want to stay on the inspector’s good side,” Davis said. “We don’t want to be on his naughty list.”

Dave McNeer, who owns 10 rental properties in Newton, also found issues with the inspection scheduling but noted that managing rental homes is not an easy job. The city wants to have nice rental properties in town and it can be a nice draw to Newton, he said. The landlords are trying to do just that.

“My wife and I got into this out of necessity. We couldn’t afford a home. We lived in a mobile home when we were first married and we bought a duplex because that was the only thing we could afford, and then we rented it out … Back in the Maytag days we had renters who were amazing,” McNeer said.

But the “quality of that renter isn’t quite there anymore,” he added.

“It is difficult. It is challenging. I just want everybody to know that it should be a partnership in terms of, yeah, you guys want nice rentals but, man, we get stuck with a lot of stuff,” McNeer said. “Sometimes it feels like on our side we’re not appreciated for the business or the opportunity or what we provide to the city.”

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com